Mike Baily, the Journal Star opinion editor, tells his readers what he really thinks of them today.
More than a few readers complained that the Journal Star chose to run a large picture of a half-dressed, half-drunk woman getting sprayed with squirt guns at a Mulligan’s wet t-shirt contest on the front page of the Veteran’s Day edition of the paper. Instead of just apologizing and moving on, they ran a sort-of apology two days later, and today had Bailey implicity retract it.
The real trouble, it turns out, is not the Journal Star’s poor decision on photo inclusion and placement, but their readers’ bumpkinish reactions to it. Let’s make a quick list of the insults he hurls at us simplemided little fools who read his paper:
- They’re like rabid dogs (because they complained)
- They shoot the messenger (because the JS was just doing its job showing us what’s happening in the city — maybe they’ll have a picture of a naked dancer at Big Al’s on the front page this Christmas)
- They’re seethingly self-righteous and predictable, like Pat Robertson
- They revel in darkness and damnation
- They’re laughable
- They’re socialists
- They’re “selective in their outrage”
- They make “sweeping, final judgments based upon a single performance” (as if the JS usually exhibits impeccable judgment)
- They’re naive
- They’re kidding themselves if they think the Journal Star’s actions weren’t totally appropriate
- They’re shallow because they complained about this more than other, more important issues, such as the Iraq war, budget deficit, etc.
Bailey also says, “Allow me to defend the place that signs my paycheck.” Actually, that paycheck only comes because those rabid, shooting, seething, self-righteous, predictable, laughable, socialistic, selective, naive, shallow, stupid rubes buy his fish wrapper and patronize the businesses that advertise in it.
Now, in addition to insulting his readers with the original picture, he now owes his readers an apology for verbally insulting them. Not that I expect him to do that. It doesn’t sound like he has any shame.